SPARTAN RACE: BRINGING COMPETITIVE PEOPLE TOGETHER THROUGH ONE GOAL

The Spartan Race is one of the fastest growing sporting events in the world. In 2017 alone, there were over 200 races organized in 30 countries where both professional and amateur athletes took part.

This race is challenging not only for newbies but for the elite athletes as well. Presenting new obstacles in every race with uncertain trails, one's training must be enough for both physical and mental preparation.

Sometimes even the most willing athletes do not get lucky in the course. The popular show Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge is strong evidence to the demanding obstacles racers must face. The show, inspired by the Spartan Race, is a competition of teams of five who must work together as they race across specially designed obstacles for a chance to win 250,000 U.S. Dollars. Every team and individual have different reasons to race but they are all focused on one common goal, to finish first and finish strong.

Seet Rui Feng is a competitive runner who eventually got tired of the monotony and decided to challenge himself more. It was in 2015 when he was introduced to obstacle course racing (OCR), the same year when the first Spartan Sprint happened in Singapore. Finishing 20th in the Elite Category, he got hooked and immediately signed up for the higher category, Spartan Super, the very next day.

"I love Spartan races. I love how physical, how visceral it is," he shared. "I like how it is sometimes ridiculous and we can all have a laugh about it, such as when we encounter new obstacles [that] no one has ever seen."

Seet has always joined the elite category. He shares that his biggest motivation to push himself is his willingness to get better every day. He has embraced the Spartan lifestyle and makes it a point to challenge himself one race after another. "One of the craziest things I have ever done was in 2016, when I competed in the Putrajaya Sprint, did the Beast the next day, and flew to the Great Wall of China within 48 hours for the Agoge, a 60-hour endurance race."

The Elite category in the Spartan Race is for the highly competitive ones. These are athletes who test themselves against the best of the best. However, in the Spartan community, camaraderie always wins over competition. Seet experienced this first hand and will always consider the experience one of his best "when the race was way longer than I expected I got very fatigued and thought my ankle was probably injured, but through the encouragement of my then then rival, Quentin, we both managed to give it a final push and completed the race," he shared. "The mutual support even though we were competing transformed us from rivals to friends after the race."

But the Spartan Race is not just for elite athletes. Even beginners are encouraged to test their limits of the sport accompanied by proper training and healthy diet. CK Loh, a 28-year-old Malaysian Spartan Race ambassador, was born with one arm, but he does not see his disability as a physical limitation for him to achieve great things in life.

CK started his physical journey when he was in 2012, it was the year when he was very fat and was not doing any type of exercise. He initially just wanted to lose weight to bring his self-confidence back, but he eventually got into running. "Running is the time I see no difference between me and the others," he shared. "We might [be] different in race, nationality, or career background, but we all have the same goal, which is finishing the race."

The race can also be a way for a person to know more about himself, in CK's case, he found that running well does not mean one can easily do an obstacle run. "The obstacle run will really test your stamina, endurance, and strength." But with the common goal of crossing the finish line, helping a fellow Spartan racer is the culture in the race course. "I was impressed by the teamwork from the runners who might be stranger to each other but willing to help each other," he added.

The teamwork in a Spartan Race has made a big impact in CK. "I can finish a marathon by my lonesome but I definitely can't complete a Spartan Race without anyone." He also applies this philosophy in life. In his words "we rise by lifting the others."

See how teamwork makes a difference which is beneficial if you're preparing for a Spartan Race. Catch The Best of Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge which airs Mondays to Fridays at 4:15 PM, first and exclusive on Blue Ant Extreme available on True Visions channel 338, and AIS Play. Follow Blue Ant Extreme on Instagram and Twitter at @BlueAntExtreme, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/blueantextreme for more updates.

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